Rodriguez Open Salvage Wrap From Bogeyed

Golf Betting Lines

Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hugo Leon only managed an even-par 71 in Sunday's final round, but it was enough to earn the victory at the ATB Financial Classic. Leon finished at 13-under 271 and won by a stroke at Bearspaw Country Club. This was Leon's first victory on the Canadian Tour.

 

Leon broke into red figures with a birdie at the fourth, but that was only enough to move one ahead. Rodriguez birdied one and eagled the par-four fourth to reach 13-under par.

 

Rodriguez birdied No. 6 to tie Leon, but a Leon bogey at the par-five seventh gave the tour's money leader sole possession of first place.

 

Things tightened thanks to some Leon mistakes and good play from his closest competitors. Leon bogeyed the par-three 12th and Risdon birdied the same hole. Rodriguez birdied the par-five 13th and the cushion was down to two.

 

The defending champion fell three behind after a bogey at the 14th. Rodriguez parred his last five to get into the clubhouse at 12-under par.

 

Alex Coe and Brad Fritsch both shot even-par 71s and shared fifth at 10-under 274. Benjamin Alvarado shot a two-under 69 and finished seventh at minus- eight.

 

NOTES: Leon pocketed $32,000 for the win...Rodriguez, a two-time winner already this season, remained atop the money list...The Canadian Tour moves to Saskatchewan next week for the Dakota Dunes Casino Open in Saskatoon, where Will Wilcox captured the 2010 event.

 

Luke Donald and Lee Westwood remained in first and second, followed by Kaymer and McIlroy. Steve Stricker kept the fifth spot, followed by Phil Mickelson.

 

Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and Dustin Johnson both sank one to 11th and 12th. Paul Casey stayed at No. 13, but K.J. Choi, who was second to Watney at Aronimink, vaulted up two to 14th. Bubba Watson dipped three to 15.

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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